# When you think of "the '70s..." **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 12, 2006, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-think-of-the-70s/380123 "2006-11-12T17:51:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2006, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-think-of-the-70s/380123/1 "2006-11-12T17:51:25Z")
…what’s the first thing to pop into your mind? (And, for some context, were you alive during the decade, and if so, approximately how old were you?) (I just woke up from a very weird dream during a nap, and somehow this is what the dream was about.) Anyway, for me – gas prices – ! – and I was in my late teens and early 20s during the '70s (and didn’t own my first car till after the decade was over – hm…) ---
**Author:** ![DianaG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7ab992/32.png) [@DianaG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DianaG)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2006, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-think-of-the-70s/380123/2 "2006-11-12T17:54:33Z")
The first thing that springs to mind is sparklers and steamers. I was born in 1971, and my single most vivid memory of “the 70s” is of the gala barbecue my great aunt threw for the bicentennial. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2006, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-think-of-the-70s/380123/3 "2006-11-12T17:56:23Z")
**Pet Rocks** and **Mood Rings** , unfortunately. And I was _there_ (10-20 years old). You’d think I’d be focusing on \*\*The Braless Look \*\* and **Hot Pants**. ---
**Author:** ![Triskadecamus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b19c9b/32.png) [@Triskadecamus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Triskadecamus)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2006, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-think-of-the-70s/380123/4 "2006-11-12T17:56:24Z")
Babies, driving, divorce, drugs, insanity, and the coldest winter in history. I was 33 when it started. None of this qualifies as “pop culture” references, though, except maybe the drugs. Tris ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2006, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-think-of-the-70s/380123/5 "2006-11-12T17:56:31Z")
Ugly clothes. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2006, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-think-of-the-70s/380123/6 "2006-11-12T17:59:40Z")
Can I say something about pet rocks and mood rings? I’ve seen those two things a hell a lot more often in looks back at the pop culture of the '70s than I ever saw them in real life in the '70s. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2006, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-think-of-the-70s/380123/7 "2006-11-12T18:51:55Z")
Orange, brown, and yellow. I was born in '77, so that may explain why the memories are skimpy. ---
**Author:** ![ASAKMOTSD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/919ad9/32.png) [@ASAKMOTSD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASAKMOTSD)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2006, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-think-of-the-70s/380123/8 "2006-11-12T19:02:58Z")
white suits/ disco balls / bee gees ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2006, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-think-of-the-70s/380123/9 "2006-11-12T19:32:01Z")
President Ford, bicentennial coins and simple arithmetic. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2006, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-think-of-the-70s/380123/10 "2006-11-12T19:33:36Z")
[QUOTE=Der Trihs] President Ford, bicentennial coins and simple arithmetic. [/QUOTE] Oh, and I was in kindergarten. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2006, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-think-of-the-70s/380123/11 "2006-11-12T19:34:31Z")
[QUOTE=Walloon] Can I say something about pet rocks and mood rings? I’ve seen those two things a hell a lot more often in looks back at the pop culture of the '70s than I ever saw them in real life in the '70s. [/QUOTE] You didn’t spend enough time in Spencer’s Gifts, man. ---
**Author:** ![Rodgers01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@Rodgers01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodgers01)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2006, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-think-of-the-70s/380123/12 "2006-11-12T19:39:47Z")
Disco, polyester, national malaise, pretty good movies, kind of a grimy and depressing time, ugly concrete buildings, hippie chicks with long hair… I was born in 1980. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2006, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-think-of-the-70s/380123/13 "2006-11-12T19:43:20Z")
Led Zeppelin, The Godfather, bell bottoms, head shops, better porn. ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2006, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-think-of-the-70s/380123/14 "2006-11-12T19:44:18Z")
The orange vinyl beanbag that I had as a small child. I was born in '76. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2006, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-think-of-the-70s/380123/15 "2006-11-12T19:49:06Z")
Born in '65, so the '70s were pretty much my “Wonder Years”. I remember Nixon hearings preempting Bugs Bunny in the afternoon. Vietnam. Streaking. Disco (shudder). Leisure Suits. The Bicentential. The '72 Dolphins. The Steelers. The Cowboys. John Wayne movies at the theatres… ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2006, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-think-of-the-70s/380123/16 "2006-11-12T20:04:00Z")
Disaster movies: ships capsizing, buildings burning, aircraft blowing up or colliding with other aircraft, LA quaking. Always with an all-star cast. Disco everywhere: on the radio, in fashions, at the movies. The last great gasp of Top 40 AM radio. Enough room on one station for all kinds of music: bubblegum pop, hard rock, crossover country, singer-songwriter stuff, and a few other genres that only live on today in Rhino collections. Entreaties to be the seventh (or tenth or nine hundred and third) caller so you can win tickets to Supertramp or the latest McCartney and Wings album. DJs with pseudonyms like “Jungle Jay,” who could yak on as long as necessary over top of a beginning of a song but miraculously stopped when the vocals started. Endless commercials for zit cream. ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2006, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-think-of-the-70s/380123/17 "2006-11-12T20:09:28Z")
Décor in orange and brown. I was 7-17 during the decade, but my first thought would be as to colours. Then I’d think about music, TV, films … ---
**Author:** ![Ace309](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ace309/32/1050_2.png) [@Ace309](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ace309)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2006, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-think-of-the-70s/380123/18 "2006-11-12T20:13:26Z")
A guy in a burnt-orange leisure suit doing The Point At The Ceiling on a hardwood dance floor beneath a sparkling ball. And I was born in 82, so it’s a little skewed. ---
**Author:** ![Ruby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/13edae/32.png) [@Ruby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruby)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2006, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-think-of-the-70s/380123/19 "2006-11-12T20:17:55Z")
boys. smoking pot. sex in the back seat of a 69 Chevy. oops, was that my outloud voice? ---
**Author:** ![DanBlather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@DanBlather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DanBlather)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2006, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-think-of-the-70s/380123/20 "2006-11-12T20:25:59Z")
I graduated HS in '73. 70s to me are Anti-Vietnam War demonstrations, Nixon/McGovern, Watergate, marijuanna everywhere, Allman Bros, Grateful Dead, and Little Feat. This slowly turned to KISS, disco, yuppies, and cocaine. I think the late 60s to early 70s was one of the best times in US history. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-think-of-the-70s/380123.md?page=2)